Unless otherwise indicated, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Conventional digital currencies are well known in the art and can generally be exchanged or used for any purpose, much like government-issued legal tender, e.g., a dollar.
Conventional digital currencies (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum, or points in a reward system) typically lack an inherent capability: 1) to be directed toward, and thereby to be limited to, a specific purpose, goal, or objective; or 2) to embed within each unit of the digital currency an encoded control, comprising a restriction or limitation, that can, for example, a) direct an issuance, an exchange, or a use of the digital currency toward a particular type of digital currency redeemer, or a targeted recipient, or another participant in a currency system; or b) apply a qualification or a condition to its issuance, redemption, exchange, or use; or 3) to embed within each unit of a digital currency encoded information, e.g., regarding an issuer, a currency system, a program, a history, transaction data, or other useful information.
In a first exemplary deficiency, the absence of said capabilities renders conventional digital currencies deficient for many useful purposes or goals of an issuer or a currency system.
A second deficiency is that digital currency issuers do not have a means to apply a control, a limitation, or a direction (toward a purpose) to their conventional digital currency.
A third deficiency is that issuers of a conventional digital currency do not have a technical infrastructure, a suitable network, or a capability to issue, process, redeem, exchange, receive, authorize, track, analyze, or use a directed digital currency with its useful features.
A fourth deficiency is that currency issuers are unable to derive substantial economic, behavior modifying, incentivizing, and other benefits enabled by a directed digital currency.
A fifth deficiency is that issuers of a conventional digital currency are typically not connected or configured for interoperability among one or more digital currency systems. Thus a common currency cannot be processed among disparate unaffiliated currency systems.
To address such deficiencies, the present invention introduces and discloses a new kind of digital currency, namely a directed digital currency, hereafter called a “DirCurrency 11,” which does not presently exist.
A DirCurrency 11 is substantially similar to, and comprises all of the features, capabilities, and uses of an interoperable reward currency disclosed in '012 with respect to its methods, mechanisms, and technology, however the features, uses, capabilities, and applications of a DirCurrency 11 are broader and can apply to different technological environments.